That would likely make it worse. Now, instead of it being repetitive, you'd be all, like, "WTF are you talking about, Piper?"

Basic rules of writing / story telling / dialogue: If words do not help to increase dramatic action and drive a story arc toward its resolution, they should be cut. Once information is delivered to the audience, it should not be repeated unless absolutely necessary.

You must watch some really boring movies full of car chases and explosions.

Exposition is one of the hallmarks of good storytelling, not silence.

RP = Role-play?

It's wholly my thing! Honestly, I don't mind the follower "banter" in Fallout 4 much at all. It's easy to ignore. But it also doesn't add anything. Compare what we hear from NPCs in Fallout with the pho-Dragon Age dialogue I whipped up above. I'd really like to see DA:I quality character evolution for NPCs in a Bethesda title.

What's here is much better than previous games, but there's still lots of work to be done before anyone could call it "quality writing". The opening sequence, when the bad things happen in the Vault as you're freezing -- THAT was quality writing. Not sure who scripted that, but they knew what they were doing.

Also -- the scenes that play as you take the trip down someone else's memory lane was VERY well-written.

id prefer them speaking 90% of the time only when spoken to.

got rlly tired of it in Skyrim while bouncin through Whiterun.

-go anywhere within 20 ft of an NPC & hear the same droll lifestory summed up.

"...but when i hold my daughter in my arms..." AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH

Plebeian, I think I understand what you're saying and, with your comparisons to DA:I, I agree 100%. I'm getting the impression you're not against the concept of companions, you just aren't impressed with how they are handled in FO4.

In the DA series, as you mentioned, the companions seem more fleshed-out. They have conversations amongst themselves. I can't tell you how many times I took This One and That One simply to eavesdrop on their banter. It's true for all three of the DA games. Not only are the characters well written, their voice actors are top-notch. Not a bum among them.

In addition (and I think this is as important as well-written/acted dialog), in the DA games, I have the option to give my companions directions. If/then directions. For me, that's critical. Having no control over the FO4 team is a disappointment for me.

I'm not against companions at all. I love well done companions and have played many games/series where I enjoyed and looked forward to traveling with them. I just don't think FO4 group was well implemented and that's why I travel The Commonwealth alone 100%.

Dragon Age isn't fallout though so why are we comparing them?

Well, they're both computer 'role playing' games, with talking companions in them.

But I suppose it's not really fair to compare a fairly linear game (DA 1), with an open world game like Fallout 4.

How do you people deal with real life? What, do you just slap people all the time or carry bulk ball-gags?

Sheesh.

Both have a companion feature. In the opinion of some (me included), FO4's companion system could have been done better. In the opinion of some (again, me included), DA's companions are well done and thus can serve as an example. I think it's a good comparison.

But fallout 4 game doesn't revolve around companions it just has them. Dragon Age franchise has always involved companions and how it intersects the story and alters the story as you. And the future storyline as well with those reading your previous saves and following through the choices you made to add to the next one.

While both may be RPG's one a fantasy game with magick and weapons the other is guns and melee. It's not really fair to compare the games companion systems in this way

?

Not saying i don't want them talking, or carrying on a convo.

But as is, it's pretty bad. Especially when it's so focused on repetitiveness.

Oblivion was a great example of AI conversations being done right.

I mean, heck, they even pvssyd among themselves randomly; and didn't tell YOU their life story every time you walked near one.

It was much more immersive.

& ballgags?

Yes. Ballgags. Definitely ballgags.

Hah! I'm doing a terrible job of explaining this.



(Sorry, Mr. Lucas...) Take the Star Wars prequels and compare them to the originals and Episode: VII. The prequels are largely garbage, both in story arc, writing, and execution. My favorite comparison:



Padme: (Intimately.) "I truly...deeply...love you. And before we die, I want you to know."



Anakin: (Silent, intense stare into her eyes.)



vs.



Leia: (Frantically.) "I love you."



Han: "I know."





Even though Han-and-Leia was technically ad-lib, it made its way into the final script -- and it's brilliant. It's two unique characters, completely in-the-moment, responding to that moment in ways that only those two characters could speak. The subtext reflects volumes about their unique relationship, which is drowning in conflict. She would never open up to him. She would never let her guard down. She had to be a strong leader, keeping her personal feelings in check for the good of her cause. He, on the other hand, knew how to read her, which was why he played it cool but never missed an opportunity to dig at her defenses. Now, they're about to be torn apart, perhaps for good. She blurts it out at literally the last second...and he responds with two words that capture the arrogance of his character at the same time as they reassure her that her feelings weren't wasted on him. Complete, cinematic brilliance.



Padme-and-Anakin sounds like every sappy exchange between two characters written by every untrained writer I've ever come across. Where's the moment? Where's the unique exchange of these two characters' love that belongs only to them? We refer to this stuff as "throw-away" dialogue -- words used simply to blow by a scene we don't really care that much about (usually because we're pressed for time and finishing the script is a matter of triage). I'll completely cut it if I can. If not, I'll try to find some way of mitigating its ho-hum effect. I'll be darned up in paisley before I refer to that type of writing as quality, though. Even if I'm the one writing it in.



This is my overall issue with the companion banter as it stands. (And not all of it! Only some of the throw-away comments.) Hearing it once is ho-hum. Hearing it over and over can grate.

Bethesda employs some pretty fantastic voice actors as well. There's only so much you can do with clunky lines or a clunky scene, though. That's where quality writers, unknown and under-appreciated in the extreme, really get to shine. Bioware produces real meat for their actors to chew. Sera in DA:I is one of my favorite scripts. Especially the -- "Having someone like you around is like...having these great, big, huge ears...! Shut up!" -- moment; I laughed out-loud at that!

Good writing is universal. It doesn't apply only to one medium, nor does quality differ between genres. If any game, film, novel, short story, cartoon, etc. is going to include characters, those characters deserve to be well-written. Bioware has definitely set a standard with this aspect, plus they budget their games to include the writers' and actors' salaries.


Despite this aspect being far superior to Bethesda games...I still like playing Bethesda games more. It's definitely not everything! I'd like to see Beth make strides, though.

Exactly. It's easier to love a mute than a blabbering dumb-a**.

Just turn down voice in settings. Then turn it back on when you're actually trying to converse.

Sure you cant hear enemy banter, but it's not like that's pulitzer winning material, or anything.


Otherwise, yep immuh say it, wait for mods.

I will be installing a "http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/746/?" mod the instant something like it comes out. Just I like I did for Oblivion and Skyrim. It improves gameplay a thousand fold for me.

If you wanna talk realism, how many times has a complete stranger walked up to you on the street and said: "Oh, sir! You look strong! Could you risk your life, delve into a natural cavern system, and bring back my grandfather's enchanted underwear? My name is 'Nervig', by the way..."

I prefer it when they can shout profanities while I'm torturing them. That, and screaming.

Oblivion had the worst AI conversations in most games. The amount of times i heard the same thing repeated in an hour destroys what I've heard in fallout 4. Skyrim had a decent AI conversation as you didn't hear the same dialog over and over and over in the same short time span. Can't believe people are praising that aspect of oblivion it was one of it's weaknesses.

It actually does differ between games because one game is more character driven that impacts the story. Fallout may be a franchise revolving around story more so than Elder Scrolls but outside of factions the characters themselves DID NOT impact the story at all. Just look at the game people still praise: New Vegas. None of the companions had any significant impact at all to the storyline. Hell not even their AI conversations were interesting during fights. They were crap compared to Fallout 4.

The issue here is NOT the quality of the conversations it's the frequency of them judging by the comments and even then, two different stories focusing on characters differently. Every Character in dragon age shapes the lore and storyline. In Fallout it's really just you who shapes the future of the games with some offering alternate endings with different choices. It's not the same at all and we shouldn't be comparing them.

Lets not also forget: Bioware is under EA and they have like 4x the amount of total developers than Bethesda do yet they still come out with some of the best RPG's of all time. Just putting that out there

Lets see...

are you honestly putting that opinion out there for the whole world to read?

k...

let's tighten that tood up a bit.

1. Oblivion AI ran on set schedules.


2. Oblivion AI had TOTALLY RANDOM conversations with one another. Not scripted as in SKYRIM.


3. to "hear the same things repeated" take a jog though Whiterun, go ahead, i dare ya. We'll all wait here while you install the game and actually play it. G'head, then, chop chop.


4. This is not DragonAge. This is not Dragonage II. This is not Dragonage Inquisistion This is not Dragonage (insert crap version)


5. have a nice day

It's quite sad you're asking me to boot up skyrim or oblivion just to tell you the same thing. You do realize I have played skyrim before right?

Albeit it's a very old one: i do have a 2011-12 unfinished LP of Skyrim on my YT channel with crappy headset quality. The other is I recently did a rebirth of Oblivion(2015) on my YT channel and on top of which i even have my trophy list on http://psnprofiles.com/trophies/1161-Skyrim/StealthBlade98 so really what are you getting at?

I put so many hours and characters into both of those games I know the frequency in which they talk and what is being talked. It's so much worse on Oblivion then skyrim or fallout 4 BUT we're not even talking about random discussions here.

The point of this thread was about companions talking.

Can't be any worse than the sneak suit in Old World Blues.... Gets you addicted to med-x so you're too doped up to take the armor off and you're forced to listen to it babble on and on and on, in between hits of med-x.

I agree with you about Oblivion (it was nails-on-chalkboard bad at times). I think Morrowind had the best writing of all Bethesda titles to date. From the opening credits to, to your Blades contact being a washed-out drug addict, to the ethnic prejudice of being called "N'wah" -- the game just oozed culture and depth from all of its pores.

Does your "tood" count for more than his. When did the Global Inner Council convene to decide this? I never got that memo. Wait... I still haven't gotten that memo.

1. All Bethesda titles run on set schedules.

2. To the point that they made absolutely no sense. Ummm...hi. Hello there! I've heard that more Oblivion Gates are opening in other cities! Have you tried eating at the Drunken Dragon? It was such a pleasure speaking with you! Enough of this drivel.

3. Never found a Bethesda title that didn't do it. It was just as horrible in Skyrim as it is here. "Lydia...how many times are you gonna ask me if I'm a priest!? We've been traveling together for 3 months. I'm not a bloody priest. I just happen to know this one healing spell because I found a tome when I was...look...nevermind. The next time you get impaled on rusty blade, just eat cabbages until you feel better."

4. We're not talking about Dragon Age. We're talking about EA / Bioware and the way they handle their scripted work.

5. Too late. It wasn't you. It was the State. (It's always the State.)

lmao quite possible the most accurate example of Oblivion AI dialog i've ever seen.

Also just for the hell of it lets add video example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhqag9lFHF0

As far as Skyrim goes It's far better quality than oblivion. Yea people repeat some things including your followers but lets be honest? It's not on the same level of [censored] like this.